To the editor:
Re: “Hopes for heritage schools shaky,” Jan. 9.
Congratulations to the General Gordon community, Heritage Vancouver and the Vancouver School Board on finding a path forward to keep children safe. I especially applaud Patti Bacchus for her diligent work trying to make progress on the seismic safety issue for many schools in Vancouver.
I disagree with Donald Luxton’s comment: “Also certain communities want a new school. Well by the time the building’s done, their kids aren’t even at that school.”
In our school community, we were fortunate to have active parents that took a long-term view, considering not only heritage, but also the need for student safety (both present and future students), and the need for balanced distribution of taxpayer dollars, considering competing demands of health care, infrastructure, etc.
Even though my children no longer attend Lord Kitchener Elementary, on the street I am sometimes thanked by parents of younger children for the hard work that our parent seismic committee did years ago.
Peggy Alca,
Vancouver
